A W Fishing Kayak Rigged With an Electric Trolling Motor

We’re getting reports about people sailing, rowing, surfing, paddling and driving their W kayaks… -When we get enough pictures we publish a ‘story’ page. The latest story is from Vermont. It’s about Dan Carroll’s electric trolling motor system project for his 2007 W fishing kayak, a.k.a “The Mean Green Machine”. We call it a ‘system’ because it includes not only the motor but a clever, user friendly steering device as well.

4 Comments

Al07/12/2008 at --

I know there’s a difference between thrust and horsepower (HP) but I can’t seem to find a simple explanation… Can anyone help me?
Al

JohnP07/13/2008 at --

Very nice setup Dan. I have been experimenting with a similar mounting orientation. My Minn Kota has one bolt up in the head that can be removed which allows the head to spin 180 degrees allowing it to become what would be considered a bow mount motor. With the motor up front there is not much directional control so normally I lock the motor in the forward position and steer by lightly tapping the water with a paddle. Works great.

JohnP

admin07/13/2008 at --

Hey John,
We’re all looking forward to see pictures of your own mean machine (I mean the W, not the Porsche…)
You guys could start a club of W mean machine owners 😀

Al,
Your question about the difference between HP and thrust sounds simple, but a good answer would be a bit complicated. I’ll write one in a separate blog post.

Yoav

Dan C07/13/2008 at --

I will have another look at mine. I was going to try spinning the head around but it did not look like it would be an easy task. So I went this route. For the most part it turns pretty good, but it helps to have reverse. I intend to play with this some more and I might just spin the head if I can and give that a try Thanks John.